Drapery fixture



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.0 M M TE@ Hmm Tr WYL RO BMO .Ad Mmm .1 F om 4 9 .I. 7, 1 w M Patented May 17, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE i MB-IH.

This invention relates to drapery fixtures and particularly to a xture suitable for use with a single 'drapery which is carried across the topof a window and allowed to fall down at both sides thereof. Heretofore a single piece of cloth draped in. that fashion has usually been suspended by disposing a ring, several inches in diameter, at the upper left-hand corner of the window frame, another ring of similar size at the upper righthand corner, and if the window has substantial width, one or more rings would be disposed intermediate the two corners and on a level with the corner rings. Then a single strip of drapery material is passed through the two corner rings and any intermediate rings that may be employed and is allowed to fall down in equal lengths on the two sides of the window.

As would be obvious, the material falling from the two upper corner rings will hang in a straight gather of folds. The portion draped between the two corners will hang in one or more curves and presents a desirable appearance, but the curved lines are not carried into the portions of the drape which hang straight down from the corners.

My invention aims to provide a convenient means whereby the same type oi drape maybe used and which will cause. the vertical hanging portions of the drape to assume a curved contiguration, which greatly improves the total effect of the drapery. f

Accordingly it is an object of my invention to provide drapery fixtures for cci-operation lwith downwardly hanging portions of a drape to inipart to such portions a curved coniguration.

Another object of the nventionis to provide drapery xtures having the foregoing advantage and which may be readily attached to a window frame or any other suitable support used in. connection therewith.

Another object of the invention is to provide drapery iixtures having the above recited purpose and designed to permit a very convenient disposition of the drapery material on suchv nxtures.

Other objectsV and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a perusal of the, fol.- lowing specication and upon referenceto the drawings.

In the drawings: y

Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing a drape of the character described supported in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of one of the drapery fixtures made in accordance with this tnx-- 10 Claims. Cl. i60-84) ventlon, showing it on a scale suitably enlarged over the scale of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the xture shown in Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken at the position of the line IV-IV of Figures 1 and 2.

Referring further to the drawings, drapery nxtures in accordance withthis invention, designed for supporting drapes of the average size used in households, may be constructed as shown in the drawings, having that number of supporting elements, but may have more or less of such elements. A base plate l or other supporting means is' attached either directly to the win-dow frame by means of screws 2, or otherwise, or may be supported on some auxiliary fixture secured to the window frame or adjacent thereto. Where four supporting elements in a single vertical plane are provided, they are as shown, the wires or rods whose vertical portions are numbered herein as 3, 4, 5 and 6, each of which has a horizontal portion such as 1 shown in Fig. 3, from which the depending vertical portions shown in Figure 2 extend. Each of the elements 3, 4, 5 and 6 has such a horizontal portion 1, and to the horizontal portion of the element 6 there is secured as by welding or otherwise a fth member 8, not in the same plane with the otherelements, whose purpose will later be described.

Assuming that three supporting rings are required formaintaining the upper portion of the drape; they will be, as shown, rings 9, I0 and Il, secured to the window frame in any suitable manner. In accordance with the usual practice, these rings are suspended rigidly on individual brackets, not here shown, as they do not constitute a part of this invention.

The drapery is then drawn through the top rings and as the two ends of the drapes are allowed to fall, they are arranged in folds which embrace the supporting elements as shown in Figure 4. It is found that merely by placing them on the supporting elements as shown, they will retain that position. If the piece of drapery materia1 is of rectangular shape, the bottom ends thereof will be caused to hang on a bias as shown in Figure l, which in many cases will be desirable. However, lf it is desired that the bottom ends shall hang in a horizontal plane, the piece of drapery material may be cut in advance to bring about that effect, that is, having its ends cut on a bias.

The supporting element 8 is provided as a guide for the inner edge of the drape, as otherwise that 3 edge might tend to wrap itself around the element 6.

The depth of the folds such as I2, I3 and I4, and the position of the edge I5 of course will vary with the width of the drape employed, and is of course subject to individual choice.

It is found that by shaping the supporting elements in a curved manner substantially as shown in the drawings, a much improved appearance is imparted to the vertical portions of the drapes. It is apparent, however, that the amount of curvature given to these elements and the length of the curve are subject to considerable variation in accordance with individual taste. The straight depending portions of these supporting elements do not need to extend much beyond the ends of their curved portions as the weight of the folded portions of the drapes will be suicient to cause the folds to maintain the shape which was imparted to them as they are draped over the supporting members.

As is obvious, each window installation requires two of these drapery fixtures, with the supporting elements on one curved oppositely to the curvature of the supporting elements on the other.

The supporting elements themselves may be made of stiff wire or rods or any other material suitable for shaping and having sufficient rigidity to support the folds of the drape in the desired spaced apart position. If desired, the material of the elements may be such that they can be bent after installation to attain various desired eurvatures and spacings. Of course the weight of the drapes to be employed is a factor to be considered in determining how rigid these elements must be.

It will be noted that the portions I of the several elements extend outwardly far enough from the plane of the inner surface of the window frame that the inwardly extending folds I2, I3 and I4 still lie o-utside said plane, while the folds I6, I'I, I8 and i9 are retained preferably in a common vertical plane generally in alignment with the horizontally draped portions 2E) and 2I. Preferably, the entire fixture shown in Figure 2 is concealed back of and within the drape.

The supporting elements may be attached to the base plate by welding or in any other suitable manner, and the base plate itself may have any suitable configuration.

In a modified use of the invention, the assembly of spacing elements may be positioned some distance below the upper corner of the window frame so that a plurality of drapery folds widely spread apart above that level may be brought into a gathered formation between the upper portions 'l of the spacing elements and then spread out again below that level by the lower portions of the elements.

The lower portions of the spacingelements as shown in the drawing lie in a plane parallel to the plane of the window frame with which they may be associated. However, they may be constructed to lie in a vertical plane inclined at an angle to the plane of the window frame, to cause the drapery folds retained by them to assume the position of that angled plane.

It should be understood that the form of the invention herein shown and described has been selected for illustrating the nature of the invention and the manner of using it, but that various modifications and variations of the invention may be employed and are intended to be covered and included within the claims which follow` Having shown and described my invention, I claim:

1. A drapery fixture comprising a support member adapted for positioning at a top corner margin of a window frame and a plurality of elements supported thereon each having a curved portion extending in a plane parallel to the plane of the window, and each having the upper end of its curved portion closer to the adjacent vertical side margin of the window than is the lower end of the curved portion, said elements being spaced apart to receive upon them and between them the folds of a drape to cause the folds to curve inwardly from the window frame upper side margins toward the center of the window and thence downwardly.

2. A drapery fixture comprising a support adapted for positioning near an upper corner margin of a window frame, a plurality of spaced apart elongated elements carried by said support, each element having a portion curved downwardly and laterally of the support to extend toward the middle of a window frame when mounted adjacent a vertical side margin thereof, said elements being adapted for receiving closely spaced folded portions of a drape between their upper ends and to retain and spread said folds in a curved formation between their downwardly depending curved portions.

3. A drapery fixture comprising a support adapted for positioning near an upper corner margin of a window frame, a plurality of spaced apart elongated elements carried by said support, each element having a portion curved downwardly and laterally of the support to extend toward the middle of a window frame when mounted adjacent a vertical side margin thereof, said elements being adapted for receiving folded portions of a drape between their upper ends and to retain said folds in spa-ced apart curved formation between their downwardly extending curved portions.

4. A drapery fixture comprising a plurality of curved fold retaining elements and means for supporting them adjacent an upper corner margin of a window frame in spaced apart position, said elements being spaced apart for receiving folded portions of a drape between their upper end portions and for retaining said folds in downwardly curving formations curved toward the middle of the window.

5. A drapery xture comprising a plurality of fold retaining elements and means for supporting them adjacent an upper corner margin of a window frame, said elements being connected to the support means individually by spaced apart portions extending outwardly from the plane of the window frame, each element having connected with its said outwardly extending portion another portion lying substantially in a vertical plane with similar portions of the other elements and curving downwardly toward the middle portion of the window frame, whereby folds of a drape may be inserted between said outwardly extending portions and between the downwardly curved portions to form the upper folded portion of the drape in a series of folds curving toward the middle of the window frame.

6. A drapery fixture comprising a plurality of fold retaining elements and means for supporting them adjacent an upper corner margin of a window frame, said elements being connected to the support means individually by spaced apart portions extending outwardly from the plane of the window frame, each element having connected with its said outwardly extending portion another portion lying substantially in a vertical plane with similar portions of the other elements and curving downwardly toward the middle portion of the window frame, whereby inwardly extending folds of a drape may be inserted said outward extending portions of said elements, while outwardly extending folds may be engaged by the downwardly curved portions of said elements to retain said folds in a series of curves conforming to said elements.

7. A drapery xture comprising a plurality of curved and flaring drapery fold spacing elements and means for supporting them adjacent an upper corner margin of a window frame, said elements being spaced in their upper portions for retaining between them the folds of a drape in a closely gathered formation, said elements being curved and spaced in their lower portions for extending said folds, when supported and guided between them, from said gathered formation into a curved and gradually spreading formation extending downwardly.

8. A drapery fixture comprising a plurality of fold retaining elements and means for supporting them adjacent a Vertical margin of a window frame, the upper portions of said elements being spaced apart for receiving and retaining between them a plurality of folds of a drape in a closely gathered formation, the lower portions of said elements being curved toward one side and mutually more widely spaced apart whereby the folds of the drape when retained therebetween will lie in a curved and gradually spreading formation.

9. A drapery fixture comprising a plurality of fold retaining elements and means for supporting them adjacent la vertical margin of a Window frame, the upper portions of said elements being spaced apart for receiving and retaining between them a plurality of folds of a drape in a closely gathered formation, the lower portions of said elements being curved toward one side and mutually more widely spaced apart and lying generally in a vertical plane at an angle to the plane of the window frame whereby the folds of a drape when retained between said lower portions will assume a curved and gradually spreading formation in such angled plane.

10. A drapery fixture comprising a plurality of curved and flaring drapery fold spacing elements and means for supporting them adjacent an upper corner margin of a window frame, said elements being shaped and spaced in their upper portions for retaining between them the folds of a drape in a closely gathered formation, said elements being curved and spaced in their lower portions for extending said folds when supported and guided between them from said gathered formation into a curved and gradually spreading formation extending downwardly, the lower portions of said elements being bendable for varying their curvature and spacing.

MIIDRED B. WRIGHT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,057,310 White Mar. 25, 1913 2,409,425 Flakenberg Oct. 15, 1946 Certificate of Correction Patent N o. 2,470,422. May 17, 1949.

MILDRED B. WRIGHT It is hereby eertiiied that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 5, line 7, claim 6, before the Word said insert between;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 11th day of October, A. D. 1949.

[UAI-1 THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Oommz'ssz'rmer of Patents. 

